Watched
by Sad Little Smile
Summary: A lot of characters from my favorite books are watching me. And stalking me. Paranoia! It's not all Artemis Fowl though; there is the Bartimaeus Trilogy, Twilight, Underland Chronicles, and Guardians of Ga'Hoole too.
1. Introduction to Insanity

**Disclaimer:I don't own any of the characters here, except for Cate.

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**It started like a normal Saturday. Only it was far from normal, as always for me. I sat up, groaning and rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Wait. I looked around quickly, closing my left eye right away. Force of habit. You can't be too careful with making sure no one is watching you.

I thought I'd seen the curtain move, the crack in the door disappearing as it was shut, and something being withdrawn from the window. I glared at all the places in question, glaring as well as I could with one eye only.

I slipped out of bed, over to the mirror, and opened my left eye. I could see it, but it was still only three in the morning, so I turned the light on. With closer inspection, I couldn't really discern anything in my eye. But...I looked still closer. There. It looked like a contact, but not quite. Crap, an iris cam?

I jerked away, poking my head out the open window. A breeze ruffled my hair. But none of the trees were moving. Not even rustling leaves. I glanced up, to see...something, retreating. Something small. I ran to the door and yanked it open. Nothing.

Gritting my teeth, I went to the bathroom, grabbing a towel on the way and closing and locking the door behind me. Then I opened my small cabinet and screamed, jerking back and landing on my backside. A large Snowy owl and what looked like a Barn owl were sitting in there. Or rather, they had been sitting there. They were now flying out the window.

"What the heck!?" I barely managed to keep from screaming, but it was still loud enough to make my dad shout at me to 'shut up Cate, it's three in the morning'. I unlocked the door and bolted, narrowly missing running into a blur of writhing air. I dodged that and ran into my room, slamming and locking the door behind me. I was gasping for air and leaning back against the door for maybe a minute, before I walked unevenly over to the door of my closet, opening it cautiously.

"Hello, female Overlander. I-" I slammed the door, unable to keep from screaming again. It'd been a huge rat this time; at least eight feet long, including its tail. I ran to the window, shoving myself through it and bolting for the ladder that led up to the third floor deck. I stayed there, shuddering, trying to process what was happening. Then two pairs of elegantly clad feet materialized before me. I glanced up, and groaned. They both had stark white skin, and were extremely beautiful.

I scrabbled away, up further onto the roof where I almost fell over a boy, about twelve or thirteen years old, holding a bejeweled sword. I skipped past him, finally getting up to the chimney, where I was tapped on the shoulder by another boy. He looked Egyptian, and I glared at him. Though it's hard to look stern and angry when you're hugging a chimney.

"Would everyone in this whole danged world stop materializing in my house and around me?!" I screeched, closing my eyes to yell.

Hundreds of miles below ground, a centaur leans back in his chair, laughing, and a red-haired elf shakes silently with laughter at his side.

In Dublin, Ireland, a black-haired, blue-eyed boy sitting in his study in a mansion grins vampiricly.

In London, a tall, dark boy, or man, smirks, and the Egyptian boy standing next to him chuckles.

In Forks, Washington, two people, a teenage boy and a girl, smile angelically and high-five each other.

In a forest lost by age, a chaw of owls churr with each other.

Deep below New York city, an enormous rat chortles with a girl and a boy, both around 13, and their giant bats.

_Why me?

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_**I thought I'd redo this story, fix up some stuff...so there isn't really a chapter two; I'm just fixing this up. :)  
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	2. Further Insanity, But a Little Sense

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, save Cate and my own ideas. But ideas are fun, even if they apply to characters that don't belong to me.**

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After that embarrassing incident with the chimney, everyone's been keeping a much closer eye on me. I can pretend not notice it, or accept, but the fact remains that there's someone constantly watching me. The only escape I can get it when I stay up late writing. Then, and only then, can I do something without the apprehension of interruption.

You wouldn't believe how disconcerting it is, to be watched. It messes with your mind, makes you see things that aren't really there; people following you when they aren't. I've always been a bit paranoid about someone stalking me, but this is really too much. I can't believe my parents freaked out so much. It wasn't like I was going to let go of the chimney and kill myself – I'm not that desperate. Not yet. But I have a feeling that, even if I tried, all the things I see wouldn't let it happen.

When I walked to school today, I started seeing them more clearly. All the shrinks I've been sent to have said to ignore them – all but one. She says that I should try to see them, try to talk to them, ask them why they are bothering me. Granted, I think that she's crazy, but given my own state of mind, I really don't have the right to call anyone crazy, do I?

I headed home, and pretty soon one of them started following me. I kind of wanted to run, but half of me wanted to keep walking and see what happened next. The incredibly beautiful pair of...whatevers I had seen before drew abreast of me and were simply walking.

I supposed I should break the ice. "What do you want?"

They only glanced at me, and kept walking. When I was sure no one else was around to hear me going crazy, I blew a fuse at them.

"Seriously? You'll just pretend I'm crazy like all the rest? Now that's just...just...typical of a Sue and a Stu! I've been over you people for years. Bloody heck! Even the rat would be better than this!"

I clamped a hand over my mouth after I said that, but apparently my karma is bad. The rat – Ripred, I knew now – clambered out of a garden wagon he had been reclining in, as if he had been waiting for us.

"Nothing in this world is quite big enough for me, eh? I suppose none of you are ready for me yet. We'll see in a few years. Your name's Cate, right?" he yawned, as if this was all in a day's work.

"Why did I have to be the person to see you people? And...things? Animals? You're all fictional characters – you're not supposed to be real."

"I can answer that." The red-headed girl swung down from a tree hanging over the sidewalk.

Nice move, I noted, then asked, "And that answer would be?"

"Well...to put it quite simply, you believe that we're real, despite what you're told every day by adults. So, because others refuse to believe, refuse to see us, there aren't that many people that will see us. We're still here, living every day, and the few who can see us are those who write the books you take as fiction. That's why your world will never be ready for the giant rat – though even if they could see him, they wouldn't be ready, I dare say." She took a breath, then grinned ruefully at the pale, blue-eyed boy, followed by an enormous man, that progressed down the sidewalk towards us.

"I'm starting to talk like you, Mudboy. I can't see that being a good thing."

I massaged my temples, hardly daring to believe what she had said, but somehow believing it anyhow. "I used to believe that when I was asleep, my toys came to life, like in Toy Story...but I've never thought of all you people the same way. Maybe it's a different sort of believing..."

"Yes," the dark-skinned Egyptian boy grinned at me as he sidestepped around the huge butler. "A very different sort of believing..."

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**Well...someone asked me to continue this, and...after thinking about it for a while and getting an idea, I've decided to. It's a huge crossover - and yet not a crossover, so...it'll still be in AF fiction...but hopefully, it'll be mainly featuring our own favorite AF characters.**

**I apologize if this chapter is as...intriguing as the first, but I hope I can entertain you as I start writing more and getting more comfortable with it. Thank you to all who read this!**

**~SLS**


	3. Dunno What to Do Blues

**Disclaimer:I don't own anything from any of the stories/books mentioned, least of all Artemis Fowl.**

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Well, at least the one couple was gone. I meant what I said – I liked their story for a month or so, but when I wasn't as hyped, I was able to take a good look. I realized that the writing wasn't quite the quality I had been blinded into thinking it was...so I dropped the series. I don't believe in it anymore, but that's only me.

So now, I have people – or creatures – I see daily. There are owls living in my closet, a huge bodyguard standing outside my room at night, a rat sleeping the corner...it goes on and on. At least they don't usually swamp me all at once. And little by little, I'm learning their stories. They're telling me their hearts and souls, and I'm becoming a little wiser each time. Besides, the stories are just plain amazing most of the time, not to mention fun to listen to. Every one of them has the voice that I've always imagined they had. Have you ever experienced that? Reading about someone, and imagining their voices, but not daring to try them out, because you know you'd get them wrong?

They've told me something disturbing, though. Once upon a time, there were millions of them, and of course they were aware of each other. Now, there are fewer and fewer – possibly only thousands. I don't understand what's happening, but according to them, when a story stops being loved, the people within die. Maybe that's why I've never seen any of those famous characters of old – Hester Prynne, Sir Gawain, the Green Knight, any from Chaucer's famous Tales...How long ago was it that they perished?

When people die, they're gone, right? The same is so for those people mentioned above – they disappear, and no amount of reading and loving will ever bring them back. I fear for all those I love – I fear falling out of love, forgetting...

"You seem rather melancholy, Mud Girl. What's up?" The red-headed fairy, Holly, is hanging over the edge of the top of my bunk bed, peering down at me.

"Melancholy? Oh...I don't know...I'm just feeling down. Like I just had the most amazing day of my life yesterday...today's the day after, and I feel all drained and empty...like I'm waiting for something that's so much more...more than this." When I talk, usually my hands are everywhere – I'm one of those who talk with their hands – but I feel like a puppet today – something else is telling me what to do.

"I wish I could say I know exactly how you're feeling, but that would be a lie. However...I know how it is, to long for something that you feel will never happen..." She grinned, managing to raise my spirits fractionally. "But don't let it keep you down; don't bury yourself with the dead. They're gone, and we'll mourn their passing, but we don't belong with them in the ground. Buck up."

"But-" Before I could complain about anything else, she punched me in the face. Not too hard – I've endured worse – but enough to make my head snap back a bit.

"What the hell was that for?" I yelled, jumping up only to step on something poky and painful. Probably the plug-in for my lamp. That hurt a lot more than the punch ever could have. Holly waited patiently until I stopped hopping around, cursing gently.

"Well, I'd bet that you're not thinking about anything depressing in the least now. In fact, you're probably feeling pretty toasty. Go yell at the rat or something – it'd do both of you some good." She grinned once more, then took my silence as leave, hopped off the bed, and exited the room, laughing.

"Yeah, thanks," I muttered, actually considering yelling at the rat. He'd screwed up my room, messing things worse than I ever have. Mom would kill me if she could see it now. She always insisted on a clean room, and this was miles away from clean, if even that. If I didn't get cleaning soon...

But first thing first – I tucked the plug-in under the lamp so I wouldn't step on it again. For the next hour, I cleaned and lost myself in the ordinary rhythm of pickup.

"Excuse me, I believe we have a spat to get over and done with?" The voice was right next to my ear, startling me into jerking up and banging my head on the bed I had been working under.

Why did I put up with these abusive characters? I wondered as I nursed the new bump on my head.

"The shouting match?" the rat reminded me once more, prodding me with both his tail and his words.

"No thanks...she was just saying that to be facetious. Thanks for the offer, though. How are the two lovebirds?" As to this last question, it was a change of subject, yest, but I was genuinely curious. I had never liked the ending of the series, because it was a little bit too sad for my liking. Don't get me wrong; the author is an amazing writer, but...I like the poor 'mains to be left in a slightly happier situation.

He rolled his eyes. "Pining for each other still, probably. He's sneaked back a couple times. His mom hates the place, but his dad gets the picture. I don't know if they'll have any sort of future at all, but...at least they'll still have each other for a while yet."

"Too bad." I shook my head. "I'd like to meet both of them someday. How come you're the only one I've met so far?"

"Like I said, they're pretty much wrapped up in each other – don't have time, apparently. Rest assured, they're not dead."

"Good." I rose from my sitting position on the floor, then took a deep breath. "Okay. Now to Algebra and Chemistry..."

"Well, let me know if you need help. Just because I don't have opposable thumbs doesn't mean I can't read. I am very well acquainted with matters mathematical." He yawned then disappeared down the hallway.

"If I need help remembering Pinafore, I'll let you know." I laughed, then headed the opposite direction.

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**It's been a while...and this isn't as great as before - I half forgot my ideas from before, but I'm remembering, too. Just bear with me for a while, and I'll find the great original idea someday...**

**By the way, Ripred's line is from _Pirates of Penzance_.**


	4. Ideas and a Possible Course of Action

**I own only Cate in the following story. Well, Cate and her friends, at least.**

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Why is this still happening? Shouldn't there be something to stop it? There are too many people in the world for everyone to be disappearing this quickly. The guardian owls are all disappearing, one by one, though the great snowy owl seems as solid as ever.

I met someone new today...and I'm not sure what to think of her.

Yes, her. A curly, blonde-haired girl with a tongue as sharp as that of...others I know. But, despite that, I find myself liking her. In another time, we could have been sisters – we've both got the same incredibly curly hair, though mine is darker and longer. She refuses to tell me anything other than her name – Minerva.

I think we all know who she is, then. She is not a loved person – not by far. She's still here, yes, so that is evidence that some people out there like her. However...she is afraid. Even someone with a great intellect isn't perfect, and in the end we're all kids, aren't we? No one speaks to her, other than me. She's been termed a Sue, though there is little information out there on her.

She's afraid of what everyone's afraid of. Unlove, hate, apathy. And she's fading away, little by little, day by day. Yesterday she wasn't bright by anyone's standards, but today she's transparent. The owls went transparent before they disappeared, and as I think back, that one set went transparent as well. I don't understand anything, because I thought that they were still cared for. Maybe not...

I wish I knew what to do. Maybe someday I'll stumble into someone who will know what to do. Maybe one of those characters – I know there's about one in ever story, the wise old one – will know what to do. If they're already out there, I might as well take advantage of their wisdom.

I rose to my feet, yawning and stretching, then proceeded to go about preparing for a day of writing and lounging around. I love those days, 'cause there aren't any expectations on me. Minerva was there, sitting on the edge of my bed, waiting. She was still pretty pale and transparent, but getting to know her seems to have helped – there's a bit more color in her cheeks, and her clothes were colored, however dully.

"Do you know of anything I can do to help? I mean, as much as I love all your stories, obsessions come and go, right? What if it ends up being my fault you're gone?" I asked her as I pulled on socks and slippers, then a housecoat.

"I can only ask you do what you can – anything is better than death." she shuddered, and I tossed a blanket at her. She gave me a trembling smile, and wrapped it around herself. "I understand about obsessions, but when you get to know someone, it's different. I guess that's what I'm hoping for – to be friends, not just an obsession, or even an acquaintance."

We walked downstairs together, greeting those we bumped into on the way. My family was out shopping, a sport I only engage in occasionally, so I had the house to myself, for a few hours at least. I took stock of who was still around – the snowy owl was still around, as well as the different owls I had come to know as Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger. Most of the others were either gone or hanging around outside. They weren't a lost cause, at least, but I was beginning to worry.

The exceptionally beautiful people were gone, but it was no loss to me – I was very much over them. In addition to the owls, there were Ripred, the rat, and Artemis, Holly, and Butler. They were civil enough to Minerva, but I felt the tension between them, and sighed. I wouldn't pry – that wasn't my job, but I wished there were some way I could resolve it. Good old Butler was above it, and was kind to Minerva, but no one does well in an uncomfortable environment.

We convened in the living room to discuss what could be done, but none of them seemed to have many brilliant ideas – Artemis was lost in thought, and I didn't dare disturb him. What Minerva had said earlier came to mind, and I decided that it was the best course of action, at least for now. Maybe I could enlist the help of my friends, the ones I trusted the most, at least. Niki, certainly, and possibly Jamie and Mari. When one is a bookworm, one tends to make bookworm friends, so I was lucky in that, at least.

When most of the people and animals had wandered off, I gave up on discussion and brought out my laptop, settling into a chair and swinging my legs over the arms. I would write – it didn't matter so much what I wrote, but it helped me get my thoughts in order – at least, it did sometimes. Minerva stayed close by, and I eventually put aside my writing in order to acquaint myself better with her. I learned a lot about her family, and as she talked, I swear I saw her become a little more corporeal, a little more flushed, a little less floaty.

Ripred wandered in a little later, and Minerva excused herself. The rat settled himself on the floor, and watched me.

"So. What's your plan? You have one, right?" he cocked his head at me, then crossed his paws, looking as elegant as a 8-foot rat could.

"I don't know. I want to get to know you all better – and I have some friends that might help...but beyond that? I have no idea. Do you have any suggestions?"

He yawned unabashedly, then said, "You could ask Jeremy Thatcher. He knows a bit about getting mythological creatures where they're supposed to go – and Ms. Priest and Mr. Elives may have some good advice. Just go walking somewhere you've never been – you'll find the magic shop in no time."

"Great. Thanks. Only...will you come, too? I...well, I get lost pretty easily. We moved not too long ago, and I don't drive, so there was no reason to learn the roads, so I have no idea..." I shuffled my feet, embarrassed in spite of myself.

"Hmm...I suppose so. But the fact that you don't know where you're going helps. We'll find it all that much faster. Come on..." he started to amble away, but I stopped him.

"I may be partially insane, but there is no way I'm going walking in my pajamas, as comfortable as they are. Give me five minutes, and I'll be ready." I raced upstairs, hearing his muttered complaint.

"Women..."

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**It's been a long time since I worked on this story - a shame, because I love the idea. Ah well. I'm trying to remember/figure out where I was going with this, so bear with me while I write.**

**I'm bringing in some Bruce Coville! Yayness. I love his Magic Shop series...good stuff.**

**I honestly never take that much time dressing - it's overrated, I think. Sure, I like to look nice, but...it doesn't have to take that long. Maybe I just care too little. Ah well. Until the next chapter!**

**~SLS**


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